Invitation to Lenten Discipline
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
The early Christians observed with great devotion
. . . the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection,
. . . and it became the custom of the church that before the Easter celebration
. . . . . . there should be a forty-day season of spiritual preparation.
. . . the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection,
. . . and it became the custom of the church that before the Easter celebration
. . . . . . there should be a forty-day season of spiritual preparation.
During this season, converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism.
It was also a time when persons who had committed serious sins
. . . and had separated themselves from the community of faith
. . . were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness.,
. . . and restored to participation in the life of the church.
In this way the whole congregation was reminded
. . . of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ
. . . and the need we all have to renew our faith.
It was also a time when persons who had committed serious sins
. . . and had separated themselves from the community of faith
. . . were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness.,
. . . and restored to participation in the life of the church.
In this way the whole congregation was reminded
. . . of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ
. . . and the need we all have to renew our faith.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church,
. . . to observe a holy Lent:
. . . by self-examination and repentance;
. . . by prayer, fasting and self-denial;
. . . and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word.
To make a right beginning of repentance,
. . . and as a sign of our mortal nature,
bow in silence before God, our creator and redeemer.
. . . to observe a holy Lent:
. . . by self-examination and repentance;
. . . by prayer, fasting and self-denial;
. . . and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word.
To make a right beginning of repentance,
. . . and as a sign of our mortal nature,
bow in silence before God, our creator and redeemer.